A massive fire at London's Heathrow Airport last month claimed a $469K custom Ferrari 458 Italia being transported from Saudi Arabia to London. Now the company responsible for shipping it is only offering $46K for the damages.

The tale of the second scorched 458 Italia is a sad one. The car was purchased in February of this year in Saudi Arabia and loaded up with nearly every option Ferrari can throw at it. Add to that a custom $110,000 Dolce & Gabbana interior (a travesty in its own right) and you've got a roughly $469K Ferrari, according to the owner.

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The car was shipped from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to London Heathrow via Emirates SkyCargo and was deposited in a warehouse on the airport property. You can see it burning to the ground below and know a small part of that smoke is a $100K D&G interior.

So sad. A rich guy loses his brand new Ferrari 458 Italia. It seems to be happening allthe time. What's special here is Emirates SkyCargo is claiming they only have to pay $46,994 for it under the rules of the Montreal Convention, which covers air cargo transportation. Here's what the convention says:

The owner of this factory fresh 458 Italia couldn't keep the damn thing for more than a day…
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The liability of the carrier in the case of destruction, loss, damage or delay is limited to a sum of 17 Special Drawing Rights per kilogram, unless the consignor has made, at the time when the package was handed over to the carrier, a special declaration of interest in delivery at destination and has paid a supplementary sum if the case so requires.

Understandably, the owner of the car is a little peeved and believes the car had already been released and was therefore not subject to the convention. They say they were waiting for a transporter (maybe just move the car?) when the fire broke out. Here's their side of it:

The car wasn't in transit according to your system and documents which showed that the car was already in the UK , and the UK customs received the money and released the car, also our agent had customs cleared the car in the early morning and were waiting on a car transporter to arrive at Heathrow for onward delivery ( which we already have all the related documents), therefore it will not follow the Mont real Convention and it will be under the British Law.

Therefore the claim should be settled between you and Serviseair asap as the good reputation of Emirates should maintain as it is known across the world and in the Gulf Areas and Saudi Arabia especially.

The issue is still not resolved, as of now, and it's a reminder to anyone shipping your precious car internationally that there are numerous steps in between, with many parties involved, and cargo companies only pay by the kilogram if something bad happens.